Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry

Institute for Gravitational Physics and Geometry

The question has long frustrated cosmologists, both amateur and professional.

Though Einstein's theory of general relativity does an excellent job of describing our universe almost back to its beginning, near the Big Bang matter becomes so dense that relativity breaks down, says Penn State physicist Abhay Ashtekar. "Beyond that point, we need to apply quantum tools that were not available to Einstein."